Book reviews: Enjoy cooler weather (and hopefully an Indian summer) with a book

Posted 8/28/15

As summer winds down, I try to enjoy reading outdoors as much as possible before cold weather returns. Sitting in the backyard with the birds and squirrels, admiring the garden and then drifting into a book is just heaven this time of year. …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Book reviews: Enjoy cooler weather (and hopefully an Indian summer) with a book

Posted

As summer winds down, I try to enjoy reading outdoors as much as possible before cold weather returns. Sitting in the backyard with the birds and squirrels, admiring the garden and then drifting into a book is just heaven this time of year.

“The Apple Orchard” (2013) by Susan Wiggs is a perfect book for the approach of autumn. Each chapter starts with a recipe in keeping with the plot — the story of Tess Delaney, who learns how to live and love. Tess has a high-powered job in San Francisco as a finder of historic artifacts when she’s contacted by her grandfather’s lawyer. But, Tess grew up thinking her mother didn’t know her father’s last name. Then, a second shock. She has a half-sister, too, Isabel. They live at the family apple orchard, Bella Vista, and her grandfather is in a coma after falling off a ladder. When Tess visits, she finds a different world. Isabel is an accomplished cook, and the story begins at the time of the apple harvest. It is full of food, recipes and the burgeoning Sonoma Valley. But, the farm is in foreclosure and Tess feels like a stranger to this world. As she grows to appreciate it and find a connection with Isabel, it becomes harder to walk away.

“Newport” (2015) by Jill Morrow was unexpected. I thought something set in Newport would be fun, but the story, which moves back and forth between 1898 and 1921, is more than that. It’s a mystery with a touch of the occult and some romance thrown in. When lawyers Adrian de la Noye and Jim Reid head to Newport to update the will of a very rich client who owns Liriodendron, a “summer cottage” on Bellevue Avenue, they find his son and daughter in attendance with a claim that their father isn’t in his right mind. Bennett Chapman plans to marry a much younger woman because his late wife, Elizabeth, has requested it via a medium — the prospective bride’s niece! Jim and Adrian will attend séances and try to decipher the secrets and history behind the truth of what’s going on at Liriodendron.

“The Distant Hours” (2010) by Kate Morton is the third book I’ve recommended by this author. You can tell she’s a fan of the gothic novel with this one. Edie Burchill works for a very small publishing house in London in 1992 when her mother receives a letter from a bag of mail lost for 50 years. Edie didn’t know her mother, Meredith, had been evacuated to the country during the war in 1939 and that she stayed at Milderhurst Castle with the Blythe sisters — twins Persephone and Sapphire and younger sister Juniper, who becomes Meredith’s best friend. Kate becomes interested in the castle and then obsessed with her mother’s past and the secrets the castle holds for the Blythe family. It will bring her closer to her own parents and reveal how strong a bond there can be between siblings.

“Still Life: The First Chief Inspector Gamache Novel” (2005) by Louise Penny. There are very few series I enjoy about modern detectives, but I really enjoyed this one. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec is the type of detective I like. Intuitive, caring and a mentor to the members of his team. When they visit Three Pines to investigate the murder of Jane Neal, they find a bucolic village and a quirky bunch of villagers, who are positive Jane, who everyone liked, was accidentally killed by a hunter. I found the story reminiscent of the well-drawn communities of Agatha Christie but transplanted to the Canadian countryside. I’m looking forward to the second installment (there are 10 so far).

“Faith” (2011) by Jennifer Haigh. This haunting story, both drama and mystery, is told by Sheila McGann, the only daughter in a devout Irish family in Boston. Her older brother, Art, is a popular priest in a suburban parish. It’s 2002 and the church’s faithful are reeling from the accusations against priests across the city. The scandal affects everyone differently. Michael, her younger brother, has sons and is furious and has already condemned Art. Art’s mother refuses to accept the possibility. Sheila is determined to discover the truth and can’t understand why Art won’t defend himself. But, doubt and faith are tied up together in her quest and she will uncover more than one secret about her family.

“97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement” (2010) by Jane Ziegelman is a combination history, cookbook, genealogy and a fascinating look at how food in this country is such a melting pot — literally — of the sum of its immigrants. But, it’s also a fascinating look at how it was cooked, served and enjoyed by the diverse groups that called the Lower East Side of New York City home at the turn of the century. The families are German, Irish, German Jews, Russian-Lithuanian Jews and Italian. And, 97 Orchard is the home today of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum if you care to see where the book is set.

Visit Lynda Rego on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lynda.rego where she shares tips on cooking, books, gardening, genealogy and other topics. Click on Like and share ideas for upcoming stories.

book review, books

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
MIKE REGO

Mike Rego has worked at East Bay Newspapers since 2001, helping the company launch The Westport Shorelines. He soon after became a Sports Editor, spending the next 10-plus years in that role before taking over as editor of The East Providence Post in February of 2012. To contact Mike about The Post or to submit information, suggest story ideas or photo opportunities, etc. in East Providence, email mrego@eastbaymediagroup.com.